A Couple Shoot through the colourful streets of Dublin!

A Couple Shoot through the colourful streets of Dublin!

It started with an Instagram DM...

When Leanda got in touch with me through Instagram about a shoot while on their visit from the US, I was super excited. She mentioned maybe capturing some street art so immediately I thought of Smithfield. It’s a vibrant spot with some amazing street art!

As soon as I met the girls, I knew we were on the same page. We got on a like a house on fire and ended up spending over three hours together, chatting, walking and grabbing a coffee and a bite to eat. It was such fun day and I would happily have hung out with them for the rest of the evening. Always a sign of a great day!

Below are some of my fab favourite images, in reverse order of the day, because that's how they uploaded!

I know that if I find myself in Boston I will be looking Molly & Leanda up! It was an absolute pleasure ladies!

A&G - Intimate Restaurant Wedding in Delgany

When Amy emailed me and told me she was getting married in the Pigeon House in Delgany, I was immediately intrigued by her restaurant wedding & felt very excited for her! I’d eaten there a few times and had even said to myself how cool it would be to have a wedding there!

In the run up to her wedding with Ger, I followed her on Instagram & met up with her before the day. She was just as she is on her instagram stories! She filled us in on the small details of the day, and we enjoyed the chats over lunch! When it came to the wedding day it was like catching up with an old friend. Sure, you couldn’t ask for better!

The ceremony and reception were held in the Pigeon House with a lovely spiritualist ceremony.

Amazing Cake display by The Cake Cuppery, Makeup by Odharnait Kiernan, Hair by Ultimate Locks and flowers by Joeanna Caffrey. Dream team!

Amy & Ger were so fantastic to hang with on the day and we thank them so much for choosing us to capture it for them!

Wedding Budget - How we did ours for less than €15,000!

Our wedding budget. Or, how to plan a wedding for under €15,000.

I’ll start off by saying this wedding budget and our wedding day is very niche and may only interest you if you’re open to going completely non-traditional and have a very relaxed attitude to the “most important day of your life”. Sure, it’s up there, but it’s only one day lads Controversial? Maybe. ;)

I will also say, that yes, I am in the wedding business so of course I will have built-up relationships with suppliers. Suppliers who were very generous with their time and offerings for our day (this would be the case in most work environments I would hope!) However, if I were not in this industry, I still would have done things a certain way, so I will share the alternatives we would have chosen within our wedding budget.

Wedding Day dreams...

I have never been one of those people who dreams of their wedding day. Obviously, marriage passed through my mind from time to time but not the “big day”. Certainly not of a wedding budget!

I‘m not a fan of being the centre of attention, I’m also not into big crowds and on top of all that, I’m a massive introvert... so, it just wasn’t a thing for me!

Then... I met Tom. Seven months later we were engaged and thirteen after that, married! It really was that quick!

As someone who’s been involved in almost 300 weddings of all sizes and types, when we did sit down to plan our wedding budget out, I still had a very good idea of what I wanted and, more importantly, what I definitely didn’t want!

So the following is a rough breakdown of what we did. The when, the how, the why - everything.

Our day, a timeline:

Monday 2nd October 2017

1:00pm: Spiritualist ceremony in Peruke & Periwig - 23 people (inc. Myself, Tom and our photographers, Emma & Pete)
2:30pm: Speeches
3:00pm: Dinner
5:30pm: Party in Fallon & Byrne - 85 guests
6:00pm: Mock ceremony and speeches
Party the rest of the evening!

Let's start off with the most expensive part of our *budget and work down shall we?
(*these prices are not to the penny but are super close!)

Fallon & Byrne:
Total cost- Approx : €3,360

We catered for 100 people and around 85 showed up. We had plattered food and prosecco with lots of mini burgers, mini pizzas, etc etc. I heard there was plenty of food ;) I had one mini pizza that evening! What was great as well was, that because we got married on a Monday, this meant that at the time, room hire was free.

This was FANTASTIC. They were amazing on the day, Ciara and her team were on the ball and looked after us really well.

Photography:
Total cost - Approx : €3,000 (Covered - Photography/flights/accommodation for two people)

This was the first priority on our list, we had it booked the week after our engagement. Photography is all we have left after weddings so why wouldn’t we spend a fair chunk on it?! Emma & Pete did an amazing job and we will forever be grateful to them for giving us back our memories of the day. And that's what it's all about at the end of the day.

Peruke & Periwig:
Total cost - Approx: €1120

Now, as anyone who follows me on Instagram can attest, know how much we love this place. I’d been going there a couple of years before I introduced Tom to a "Back in Black" ;) When playing with ideas for venues, we thought, why not ask them if we can just get married there? The food is great, their cocktails are AMAZING and the place has beautiful decor already and didn’t need to be kitted out.

Luckily for us, they said yes. We’d known most of the staff well enough at that point so we felt comfortable there, which was a huge factor for the day. Knowing all the vendors made it feel like all the better. The lads did an amazing job. Again, as it was a Monday, there was no room charge at the time.

My Dress:
Total cost - Approx: €1040

I stumbled across my dress in Town Bride, in the Powerscourt shopping centre. I had initially bought a white dress online for €100 and was convinced I’d wear it.

When I walked into Town Bride with some friends, we were all drawn to a blush coloured dress in the sample sale. I tried it on, and a few days later went back and bought it. It was €900 and I then had it tailored for €140. I still like my dress, I know I could have spent less on one but I felt like splurging a little. :)

Rings by Chupi:
Total cost - Approx: €1000

This, I left to Tom, and trusted he'd organise something nice for our wedding bands and he did not disappoint! I've been a fan of Chupi's for several years, even having some of her other signature rings in my collection already. So, to have her rings as our wedding bands was a nice touch from Tom.

Hotel Accommodation:
Total cost - Approx: €950

We chose to stay in The Central Hotel, beside Fallon & Byrne. Mostly for convenience, but the rooms were comfy and a welcome place to rest our heads after dancing all night!

Celebrant - Tom Farrell:
Total cost - Approx: €465

Tom was such a calming influence on the day. Having worked with him several times at weddings myself and seeing him with couples first-hand, I knew he would be the right one for us. His gentle nature and guiding hand was very helpful in both the run up to the wedding and on the day itself. We had several people come to us after saying how much they enjoyed his ceremony! I cannot recommend him highly enough.

DJ - Emmett Baldwin:
Total cost - Approx: €450

Emmett was brilliant! He played from 5:30-1am, getting everyone on the dancefloor from first to last song. Great music was playing all night, covering every kind of genre. Walking into the room to Star Wars and having our first dance (Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now by Starship for those who're wondering!) were just some of the highlights to the party in Fallon & Byrne.

Tom’s suit:
Total cost - Approx: €290

Don't discount TK MAXX! Tom found his gorgeous, grey Herby Frog, 3-piece suit valued at €350 for €140 in the TK MAXX in Killarney. He only needed minor tailoring on his jacket & vest, but it ended up costing more than the suit itself at €150!

Shoes/head piece:
Total cost - Approx: €135

Jenny Packham - Debenhams.

A helping hand from industry friends...

Without going into in-depth detail of who provided what and for how much. I want to give a shout out to people who were so generous with their time and energy and thank them for helping add to our day!

In no order of preference, we had:

Video: 2 hours coverage of ceremony and speeches from Cathal Farrelly Video.

Cake: The Cake Cuppery

Hair: Joanne Kelly

Makeup: Elaine’s Beauty

Decor: Moss Cottage & Miscellaneous (Ikea)

Favours: Dublin Doughnut Company - They are no more! :(

Print suites: Self-designed and printing was gifted.

Flowers: Dasha Caffrey

For all of the above, we spent approx €2,500. But, what if I didn’t have these special friends in these places? I probably would have done a lot more diy, and scaled back on some things, such as with the flowers for Fallon & Byrne (not having a bridal party helped a lot with this), cake and decor.

I also have to give a special thank you to my friends Naomi & Jay from Dublin City Comics for organising the Darth Vader & Stormtrooper surprise for Tom at Fallon & Byrne! His face was priceless!

What did we do to save for our wedding budget?

We married on a Monday in October
We had no Bridal Party - this saved an absolute tonne! suits, dresses, shoes, hair, makeup, gifts, stress etc.
We only had dinner for 23 people
No Band, just a dj. (The dance floor was hopping all night)
No favours (for guests in Fallon & Byrne)
A lot of DIY - I made our sign designs and spray-painting the bottles ourselves.

How we could have saved more?

Not stayed in a hotel.
Not had the evening party (and by extension, not had the DJ etc) and just celebrated with the 23 people in Peruke & Periwig. These things alone would have saved us about €5,000 in total to bring our wedding budget to under €10,000! It can be done guys!

A do over? What would I change?

I would have definitely taken more time to celebrate the run up to the day and maybe have gone on a 10 day honeymoon to somewhere warm with cocktails ;)

Some final words...

I will end by saying that there are no hard and fast rules to what you do or do not want to do for your wedding. Guys, don't do something you feel uncomfortable doing. PLEASE! Don’t let anyone tell you what to do or make you feel bad about your choices. At the end of the day, it's your day and you deserve to enjoy it to the fullest! Stick to your own wedding budget, however that works out and you'll be happier for it!

Johnny & Claire - Intimate Registry Office Wedding in Dublin

When my good photo friend Johnny asked me to capture a few photos the day before his wedding when he and Claire signed on the dotted line in the Registry office, I was honoured to!

Johnny is a fantastic photographer in his own right and has photographed me several times so it was a pleasure to return the favour & capture this intimate relaxed session in Dublin City.

The next day I attended the wedding as a guest down in Mount Druid and had a blast!

Dublin City in the Registry Office.

I always rave about shooting in Dublin City, it's my favourite place to shoot. Full of character and life, Dublin has always had a special place in where I love to shoot. Registry Office weddings are also so lovely. They're intimate, close affairs and really have a warmth about them I love capturing.

Congrats again Johnny & Claire and best wishes for years to come!

Alternative Styled Shoot in Dublin City

An alternative wedding shoot, almost a year in the making...

I had this idea for an alternative wedding styled shoot in my head for almost a year. I shot the most amazing gothic bride last May and was inspired to come up with an idea of what I thought would look good for an intimate gothic themed wedding. Ideas started to bloom and I contacted a couple of industry friends to see if they wanted to be a part of it.

I was delighted when Cat from The Cake Cuppery was all for helping to design an alternative wedding cake and Sorcha from You and Me Invitations agreed to come up with something very special for the wedding stationery. They blew me away with what they produced and it was the icing on the cake to have their creations a part of this shoot. Peruke & Periwig kindly allowed me to shoot in their gorgeous space. If you know me, you know I love that place. ;)

Models, models, models!

My two models Jynx & Kirk did a knockout job doing their thing in a park in Dublin. Jynx even made her own gothic wedding styled dress and was a stunning Gothic Bride. Kirk was equally impressive with his dress sense! He wore big, platform boots, a tailored coat and completed his ensemble with a gorgeous cape and wolf-head cane! They were an excellent, well-dressed duo!

If in doubt, do it yourself!

I DIY’d a lot of the table settings myself and even used dead hydrangeas as well as some faux flowers. I’m pretty happy with the outcome and was just so happy to execute a styled shoot of my own design after 6 years!

Thanks again to all who contributed their precious time to help me out. I’m forever grateful.

E&Z - A Fabulous Glitzy Dublin City Wedding

Dublin City Wedding Glitz!

Back in November, I was honoured to capture Elaine & Zoe's big day. It was a stylish affair with plenty of glitz and glamour. I had been looking forward to this for a long time, ever since I shot their engagement shoot the previous year and it was fantastic! I seriously adore a Dublin City Wedding, they are, after all, my Ultimate Wedding Venue!

A bit of company is always great to have on a wedding day!

Niall Scully was there second shooting with me and Little Bear was there to capture it all fantastically on film. Always a pleasure guys! The Wedding Festival and Adonis flowers added lots of beautiful touches to the day and the Morrison Hotel in Dublin City was a fab backdrop for the Celebration.

A beautiful First Look!

Elaine & Zoe indulged in a first look which was super emotional, then we headed through the streets of Dublin, to Panti Bar where we stopped for a drink and a few portraits. So worth it!

On to the beautiful ceremony in the Morrison and from there, some beautiful speeches and fun entertainment in the form of belly dancing, dance performances and singing! It was a day that just kept giving and it was an absolute honour to be there!

Elaine & Zoe, you were amazing and should be so proud of pulling off such an amazing wedding! I hope you are enjoying wedding bliss ;)